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MY CONNECTlOxV 

^ WITH 

THE ATLAS NEWSPAPER; ^J^ 

INCLUDING A ^ : :■ 

SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE AMORY^H>(.L 
PARTY OF i#8, 

AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE 

SENATORIAL AND REPRESENTATIVE ELECTIONS 

IN THE CITY OF BOSTON FOR THE TEAR 1839, 



SO FAR AS THE QUESTION OF SUSTAINING THE LICENSE LAW 
.^ ., OF 1838 WAS INVOLVED THEREIN. 






By Ri HILDRBTH, 

Late Contributor to ths Atlas nevvsp^er ; V « Secretary to the Amory Hall 
Committee, and .Member of the Advisory Committee of the Boston Temper- 
ance Association for the year 1839. 



BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED BY WHIPPLE AND DAMRELL, 

No. 9 Cornhill. 

18'3 9. 



HISTORY OF THE 
AMORY HALL PARTY OF 1S38, 

Ax\D OF THE ELECTIONS FOR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES 
IN THE CITY OF BOSTON, IN 1839. 



^ As the nature of the connection which has heretofore existed 

^ between the Atlas newspaper and myself, and the course, in rela- 
tion to the choice of senators and representatives for the county of 
Suffolk and the city of Boston, which within a year past I and 
others have seen fit to pursue, seems in general not to be well 
understood, even among my friends and acquaintances, and has 
been greatly and maliciously misrepresented by my opponents, I 
esteem it a piece of justice to myself and others, to offer the 
following statement and explanations. 

The Atlas newspaper was first established in 1832. I was 
then very young, having lately been admitted as an attorney at 
the Suffolk bar. At the time the paper was established, the 
whole property in and responsibility for it, rested with Mr. John 
H. Eastburn, well known as the city printer. I had a contingent 
interest in the copy-right, to commence at the expiration of tAvo 
years, should the paper be continued after that time. I also 
received a small annual salary, in consideration of which I 
contracted to furnish the leading editorial articles. Richard 
Haughton, the present proprietor of the Atlas, came on from New 
York in virtue of an arrangement made with him by Mr. Eastburn, 
to act as head of the ncAvs and miscellaneous departments, and 
as general editor. At first he had no interest in the paper, but 
was employed upon a salary. Tlie paper had been got up, and 
all the arrangements made, previous to his arrival, by Mr. East- 
burn and myself. 

After some time, Mr. Haughton became a proprietor in the 
paper jointly with Mr. Eastburn; and before the expiration of the 
two years, Mr. Eastburn sold out his whole interest, and retired 
from the concern altogether, nor has he since that time been 
connected with it in any shape, to my knowledge. 

After the expiration of the two years, in virtue of the agree- 
ment above referred to, I became a proprietor in the paper to a 
small extent, and continued, under a new agreement, to furnish a 
certain part of the editorial matter for some tAvo or three months, 
when I sold out my interest to Mr. Haughton, AvithdrcAV from 
the paper altogether, went to the South for the benefit of my 
health, and was absent from the State for some eighteen months. 



4 

I was partially induced to adopt this course, in consequence 
of Mr. Haughton's determination to bring forward and sustain 
Mr. Webster as the Whig presidential candidate, a procedure 
in the policy of which I did not concur. It was at this time 
that the paper was enlarged, to the eight dollar size, it having 
previously been a five dollar paper ; and Mr. John O. Sargent, 
now in the New York Courier and Enquirer, was announced 
in its columns, as associate editor. 

Before going any farther, I here claim the liberty of making 
a few observations upon my contributions to the Atlas, during 
this, my first period of connection with it. 

Almost all the leading editorial articles were written by my- 
self. They were for the most part short and pointed. Either 
from their spirit and vivacity, or for some other cause, they were 
very generally copied by our exchange papers, and I soon enjoyed 
the satisfaction — and to so young a writer, it was a satisfaction — 
of seeing my own articles coming back from the banlvs of the 
Ohio and Mississippi where they had been reprinted. 

At the time the Atlas began to be published, the affairs of the 
Whig party had fallen into great confusion. In 1831, the Anti- 
masons had first appeared in this Commonwealth, as a distinct 
political party. They had thrown 13,650 votes for Mr. Lathrop, 
tlieir candidate for governor, while the Jackson party had 
given Judge Morton 12,173 votes. Governor Lincoln had re- 
ceived 29,160 votes, and was elected by a majority of only 3,537. 
This was the first serious opposition made to the reelection of 
Governor Lincoln, and may be considered as the first decided 
outbreak of political warfare in this Commonwealth, after the 
five years' calm which had been superinduced by the amalgama- 
tion of parties in 1825. 

In the following year (1832), at the election Avhich took place 
a few months after the Atlas was established. Governor Lincoln 
received 34,154, while the united votes of Morton and Lathrop 
amounted to 30,106, leaving Lincoln a majority of less than four 
thousand votes, and that too with all the aid he derived from the 
circumstance that presidential electors were that year chosen. 
Previous to the next election (tliat of 1833), Governor Lincoln 
announced his intention to be no longer a candidate. The Anti- 
masons, Avho Avere a strong and growing party, had prevailed on 
John Q,. Adams, ex-president of tlie United States, to be their 
candidate, and the Whigs or National Republicans as they 
were then called, Avere in the greatest state of uncertainty and 
doubt as to the policy Avhich they ought to pursue. Many Averc 
for yielding at once. Relinquishing all hope of electing a candi- 
date of their OAvn, they Avere for adopting the candidate of the 
Antimasonic party, and thus in fact surrendering at discretion. 
No newspaper, and no leader of the party had yet recommended 
any decided course; indeed it Avas generally understood, and I 
believe correctly, that Mr. Webster, and the tAvo Mr. Everetts, — 



for at that time Mr. Alexander Everett was a leader of the Na- 
tional Republican party — though they were cautious of committing 
themselves publicly, were yet in private decidedly in favor of 
going for Mr. Adams. 

Reflecting upon this state of affairs, it appeared to me exceed- 
ingly clear, that if the National Republicans adopted the Anti- 
masonic nomination, and thus voluntarily concurred to place the 
afl'airs of the State under the management of the Antimasonic 
leaders, it would be all over with the National Republicans as a 
separate party. It appeared to me that if that party was to be 
sustained as a distinct organization, it was absolutely necessary 
to have a distinct candidate. After some consultation upon the 
subject with Mr. Haughton and a few others, — for at that time 
neither of us had many acquaintances in the city, — I took that 
ground in the paper, and wrote quite a number of articles to 
show the policy, and indeed the absolute necessity of nominat- 
ing a distinct National Republican candidate. The idea took 
with the public, and ([uite a number of connnunications were soon 
sent in, to support the ground we had taken. I Avell remember 
several, which produced a great eftcct, from the pen of the late 
William Sullivan. 

On the other hand, and as always happens in such cases, the 
policy we had indicated, and the Atlas itself, were denounced in 
certain quarters with great vehemence and severity. It was at 
tliis time, if I recollect right, that Mr. Webster uttered his cele- 
brated malediction against the Atlas, which the Advocate was 
afterward so fond of quoting, and Avhich it was impossible for 
the Atlas to deny. Notwithstanding this opposition, it appeared 
to be the decided opinion of a majority of the National Repub- 
lican party, that a separate candidate ought to be nominated. 
A State Convention of the National Republicans had been called 
to meet at Worcester. At the meeting lield in this city for the 
choice of delegates to that Convention, it happened by a some- 
what singular coincidence that George Bond was chairman of 
tlie meeting, and Richard Hildrcfh, secretary. At this time it 
had been generally understood and agreed that Johiv Davis of 
Worcester should be the candidate of the National Republicans, 
provided he could be prevailed upon to accept the nomination. 

Mr. Haughton was a delegate to that convention, and if I 
recollect right, was one of the cominittee appointed to wait upon 
Mr. Davis, to inform him of his nomination. It was only by 
much entreaty, and by the assurance repeatedly made to him, 
that only by his acceptance of the nomination, could the exis- 
tence of the Whig party be preserved, that Mr. Davis was 
prevailed upon to stand as a candidate for governor. The Atlas 
supported his claims with very great zeal. The election came 
on, and Mr. Davis received 25,149 votes, John Q. Adams had 
18,274, and Judge Morton 15,493. There was no election by 
the people, and the Whig party was in a minority of upwards of 
1* 



eigM thousand votes. Mr. Davis, however, was chosen by the 
Legislature, and at the next election (1834), by which time the 
National Republicans had assumed the name of Whigs^ he re- 
ceived 44,802 votes, a clear majority of more than fourteen 
thousand over all other candidates. 

It was the bringing forward of John Davis as a candidate for 
governor, which secured to the Whigs that supremacy which 
they have since enjoyed in this Commonwealth. Whether in 
the part I had in that matter, I rendered the Whig party any 
service or not, the reader can judge. 

There is only one other series of articles which I wrote for the 
Atlas during the first period of my connection with it, to which I 
think it necessary here to allude. That series of articles related 
to the constitution, and more especially to the practices of the 
Whig Ward and County Nominating Convention. Those arti- 
cles were not published editorially, but as communications. 

The Whig Ward and County Convention was chosen and 
constituted at that time, very much, if not exactly, as it is at 
present. A very corrupt and dangerous practice however, had 
grown up in that convention, of selecting the candidates for public 
office from among its own members, so that there was scarcely a 
single person in the Avhole body whom the Convention did not 
nominate either for Senator, Representative, or Alderman of the 
city. 

The nominations made in that body were thus reduced to a 
perfect system of intrigue and log-rolling. Whoever desired to 
be nominated for any office, had only to get himself appointed a 
member of the Ward or County Committees, — and the election 
of the members of those committees rested at that time in the 
hands of a very small knot of politicians. He was then in a con- 
dition to negotiate with his brother members for such a nomina- 
tion as he might desire, it being tacitly understood that he, in 
his turn, was to help them in the same way. In the series of 
articles above referred to, I attacked this whole system with a 
good deal of vigor. Nor was the attack altogether without 
effect. The rottenness and danger of the existing system needed 
only to be exposed, to be seen by every body, and at the meeting 
held in 1834, for electing the members of the County Committee, 
a series of resolutions was introduced and after much debate was 
adopted, in which it was provided among other things, that no 
member of the Ward and County Convention, should be nomina- 
ted by that body as a candidate for any office. The excellence 
of this refonn has been attested by the re-adoption, in each suc- 
cessive year to the present time, of tliis same resolution, in the 
very same terms in which it was originally offered. Whether in 
contributing as I did to call the public attention to this important 
point, I rendered any service to the Whig party, I say again, let 
the reader judge. 

After closing my first connection with the Atlas, I left the city 



7 

of Boston, towards the end of September, 1834, and was absent 
some eigliteen months, during the greater part of the time in the 
territory of Florida. During my residence in Florida, the only 
contributions which I made to the Atlas consisted of a series of 
letters written in December, 1835, and January, 183(5, giving a 
description of the territory, and a history of the origin and first 
exploits of the Seminole war, a war which has since become 
so costly and so celebrated, but which was regarded, M'hen 
it began, more as a matter of jest than earnest I returned 
to Boston in April, 1836, wliere, however, I did not stop, but pro- 
ceeded immediately to my motlier's residence, in Gloucester, 
where I remained for about ten months. In consequence, Jiow- 
ever, of an article Avhich I sent to Mr. Haughton as a communi- 
cation for his paper, soon after my arrival at Gloucester, at his 
suggestion and request, I entered into an arrangement Avith him, 
by which I agreed to contribute at the rate of two articles a 
week, to his paper. These articles were written in Gloucester 
and sent by mail to Boston. Mr. Haughton perfectly understood 
at that time, that there were certain })oints in the course which 
the paper had ado})ted during my absence, in the propriety or 
policy of which I did not concur. He knew also that upon some 
points, in the policy which he Avas then pursuing, — and especially 
in his zeal for Mr. Webster, as a presidential candidate, — I dif- 
fered from him. It was hoAvever arranged betA\'een us, that I 
should write only upon those subjects as to Avhich Ave agreed. 

In consequence of this arrangement, I wrote the series of arti- 
cles upon Texas, — the first articles, I believe, Avhich gave the 
Atlas any character beyond that of a zealous and spirited parti- 
zan journal, — and Avhich first attracted to it the favorable notice 
of persons aa^io Avere something more, or something less, than 
mere party politicians. Following in the same track, I furnished 
additional articles, upon the Seminole Avar, the Creek Avars, and 
our relations Avith the Cherokees, — subjects at that time of high 
interest, and Avhich my residence at the South enabled me to dis- 
cuss Avith a certain degree of intelligence. At the time I set up 
no claim, either public or private, to the authorship of those arti- 
cles ; nor did I tliink it a matter of any particular consequence, 
till I afterAvards discovered that other people Avere claiming, or 
at least Avere enjoying, a certain ' degree of reputation founded 
upon their authorship, and which of right belonged to me. 

In February, 1837, I came to Boston and made a neAv arrange- 
ment Avith Mr. Haughton, to commence on the first of March, by 
virtue of Avhich I Avas to furnish editorial matter as before, and 
in addition was to report the proceedings of tlie several courts of 
laAv for the Atlas. This arrangement continued in force for 
about six months, or till the first of September folloAving. 

During all this period, Mr. John O. Sargent had been in the 
paper, and had acted as its principal political editor. About the 
first of September, 1837, he made an arrangement to become a 



8 

joint editor of the New York Courier & Enquirer, in consequence 
of which he left the Atlas, and quitted Boston. 

I now entered into a new agreement with Mr. Haughton, by 
which I undertook to furnish the main part of the editorial matter 
of the paper, it being, however, perfectly understood between him 
and me, that the whole control of the paper, and the whole res- 
ponsibility for it, rested with him ; and that if at any time he saw 
fit to take a course, or to promulgate opinions, in which I did not 
concur, he was at perfect liberty to do so, with the understanding, 
however, that I was not to be expected to contribute in any way, 
towards the support of opinions which I did not entertain. 

Soon after this new arrangement, I proceeded to Washington, 
to attend the extra session of the Twenty-fifth Congress. I was 
at Washington also during the larger part of the long session of 
that Congress, until about the middle of April, 1838, when I re- 
turned to Boston. During my residence at Washington, I not 
only furnished quite as full and complete account of all the de- 
bates of both Houses, as was given by any other Washing- 
ton correspondent, but I furnished also a large proportion of the 
editorial articles of the Atlas, including all those upon the right 
of petition, the issue of treasury notes, and the proposed Sub 
Treasury, besides many others on the position and tendency of 
parties, and especially concerning the course of Mr. Calhoun 
and his friends, the conjectures of which were received with 
much incredulity at the time, but which have since, in a great 
measure, turned out to have been well founded. 

During my residence at Washington, from September, 1837, to 
April, 1838, Mr. Eppes Sargent, now of the Noav York Mirror, 
was connected with the editorial department of the Atlas, and 
rendered it essential service. Upon my return to Boston, Mr. 
Sargent went to New York ; and from April, 1838, to November 
20th, now last past, a very great proportion of the articles which 
have appeared in the editorial columns of the Atlas have been 
of my composition. Among these articles, I may mention that 
series which attracted such general attention, on the nomination 
to be made by the Harrisburg Convention, and on the propriety 
of selecting General Harrison as the Whig candidate. All the 
articles, on this subject, except some three or four, in which 
it was judged necessary to take the back track, were written by 
me. 

I have heretofore disavowed all responsibility, for the general 
course of the Atlas, nor have I ever possessed any control over 
that course, except so far as my advice might go. Such incon- 
sistencies, then, as the paper may have been guilty of, must not be 
ascribed to me. Some such there are, but I never advised nor con- 
sented to them. And, on the other hand, if there have at any time 
appeared any inconsistencies between my opinions and actions, 
and the doctrines which that paper has inculcated, neither the 
Atlas nor Mr. Ilaughton can be held in any sense responsible 
therefor, any more than the paper or its proprietor is responsible 



9 

for the opinions and actions of the clerks, compositors or press- 
men, employed in its publication. My name liad never been an- 
nounced as an editor, and that I contributed to the paper in any 
way was not generally known except to a certain number of 
hano-ers-on about the office, who were indeed exceedingly mis- 
taken if they supposed, that for a salary of fifteen hundred dol- 
lars a year, I sold not a certain portion of my time only, but my 
freedom of opinion, and my independent right to act. To such 
a servitude I hope never to be obliged to submit. Let me do Mr. 
Haughton the justice to state, that he never for a moment, placed 
any such construction upon our contract, and that in all the tran- 
sactions that have ever passed between us, he has always con- 
ducted towards me, with that scrupulous delicacy Avhich is the 
first characteristic of a gentleman. 

Independent of certain less important differences of opinion 
which had always existed between Mr. Haughton and myself, 
the great difference between us, and that Avhich has led more 
immediately to my late disconnection with the Atlas^ grow out 
of the License Law of 1838. 

That act was passed while I v/as at Washington. I knov/ 
nothing of its history or its parentage, except Avhat appeared in 
the newspapers at that time. I read those accounts with great 
interest. I made up my mind that the law was a good law, and I 
resolved, if it were necessary, to do all I could to sustain it. 

When I returned to Boston, I found that the passage of that 
law had produced a great excitement, which however at that 
time was far less apparent than it has since become. Mr. 
Haughton commiUnicated to me the state of public sentiment 
with respect to that law. He stated to me that all his sympa- 
thies were against the laAV, though he considered its passage or 
its repeal as a matter of slight consequence compared with the 
sustentation of the Whig party. With the view of preventing the 
differences of opinion which had grown out of that law from pro- 
ducing a division in the Whig party, he esteemed it, for the pre- 
sent, the wise and politic course to say nothing whatever upon 
the subject, and thus to give the existing agitation a chance to 
subside. I stated, on the other hand, that all my sympathies 
were in favor of the law, and that I meant to do my best for its 
support; but under the circumstances, I concurred in the policy 
of letting the subject rest, and agreed to the suppression of a 
paragraph which I had written, in which the law was spoken of 
v/ith favor. 

So the matter remained, till about the 1st of October, at 
which time, the annual notice of a public meeting for the 
election of Comity Committee for the County of Suffolk, 
appeared in the newspapers. At this time Mr. Haughton Avas 
absent in Pennsylvania. It had come to my ears, that the op- 
ponents of the License I^aw of 1838, who began about that time 
to take the name of Liberals, had adopted, according to what 



10 

they considered wise advice, the following plan of operations, 
to wit, the g-etting possession of the Whig primary meetings, the 
filling up tlie County and Ward Nominating Committees with 
people of their own selection, so as to exclude from nomination 
every person knoAvn or suspected to be friendly to the obnoxious 
law. In the course of the summer, it was more than once intima- 
ted to me, that I might secure my election to the House of Re- 
presentatives, if I would only come out against that law, a prop- 
osition which of course I steadily rejected. The plan of the 
Liberals was the more objectionable from the fact, that their 
party, and the Committee in which their course of action was 
agreed upon, was composed in part of Van Buren men, so that 
in point of fact the nominations of the Whig party were to be 
made or controlled, by a committee composed partly of Van 
Buren men, through the aid and procurement of the part of that 
committee, who had hitherto classed themselves as Whigs. 

Such proceedings I esteemed highly dangerous, not to the 
cause of temperance alone, but to the character and even to the 
existence of the Whig party, and I at once resolved to do all that 
I could to prevent their execution. I accordingly called upon 
Mr. Philip Greely, Jr. and Mr. Albert Fearing, two active mem- 
bers of the Whig party, in whose judgment and good intentions, 
I had confidence, and having stated to them what I knew and 
Avhat I feared, I requested them to act with me, in endeavoring 
to prevent the seizure and prostitution of the Whig Nominating 
Convention, which I understood to be threatened. To this prop- 
osition they readily acceded, and after having held some 
conversation with several friends of the Law of 1838, in order 
that I might understand their views, and be in some degree able 
to speak in their behalf, Mr. Fearing, Mr. Greely, and myself 
called together upon Mr. Abel Phelps, whom we considered as 
one of the principal heads of the Liberal party, and afterwards, 
in company with Mr. Phelps, and at his suggestion, upon Mr. 
Daniel L. Gibbens. These persons received us with courtesy, and 
showed some disposition to enter into a negotiation. But we 
soon discovered that very little could be accomplished in that 
way. The claim which we set up in behalf of the friends of the 
Law of 1838, was exceedingly moderate. We undertook to guar- 
antee in their names, that they would be content with fe/i or even 
»ix friends of the law upon the representative ticket. The ne- 
gotiators on the other side, with an apparent exultation in their 
own strengtli, refused us even one. 

Perceiving that nothing could be done in the way of negotia- 
tion, I immediately began to make preparations to prevent the 
Liberals from taking possession, by force, of the meeting for the 
choice of County Committee. I liad however but one or two 
days for preparations, and several of those whom 1 called in to 
my assistance, when the struggle came on proved faitliless if 
not treacherous. 

The meetinsr for the choice of County Committee was held at 



11 

the Temple. At an early hour the front seats were occupied by 
the leaders and followers of the Liberals, amona^ whom were to 
he noted many who had seldom or never been seen before at a 
Whig caucus. The back part of the hall was filled with citi- 
zens, most of whom were totally opposed to the proceedings 
which took place, but Avho were Avithout any preconcert or mu- 
tual understanding, and who could effect nothing against the 
preconcerted arrangements and vociferous noise of the Liberals. 

The meeting was called to order by Mr. Henry Edwards, who 
had been re-appointed by the Legislative caucus, chairman of 
the County Committee lor Suffolk, and avIio, according to oil 
usage before or since, was entitled to preside over the proceed- 
ings of the meeting. But Mr. Edwards did not suit the ideas of 
those persons who had volunteered to manufacture a County 
Conunittee for the Whigs. Accordingly, he Avas very uncer- 
emoniously thrust from the chair, and Mr. James T. Austin, avIio 
happened to be present, was chosen in his place. The Commit- 
tee, upon motion of Mr. Philip Marrett, and after some discussion, 
then proceeded to adopt certain resolutions, a portion of which, 
however, were directly in the teeth of the course which those 
who controlled the meeting immediately afterAvards pursued. 

It had been customary ahvays hitherto, that the chainnan of 
the meeting should nominate a preliminary committee of tAvo 
from each Ward ; this preliminary committee had been accus- 
tomed to retire for consultation, and afterAvard to report to the 
meeting the names of four persons from each ward. Out of 
these four from each Avard, it had been usual for the meeting to 
select two from each Avard, by markings and the tAvo from each 
Avard having the highest number of marks, constituted the Coun- 
ty Committee. Such had always heretofore been the metliod of 
proceeding. ' 

I was strongly desirous of fixing upon Mr. Austin the appoint- 
ment of the preliminary committee, for I knew Avell that he 
Avould not and could not appoint other than a fair one. I made 
the motion accordingly, after having stated the uniform practice ; 
but being opposed by Mr. Gibbens, my motion Avas forthAvith in- 
dignantly rejected, and it Avas decided that the committee should 
be appointed by nomination at large. 

The Liberals Avere all Avell provided Avith printed lists, from 
AAdiich they read off* the names, as nominations for the preliminary 
committee Avere called for. But so great Avas the clamor and 
confusion, that the chairman had the utmost difficulty in distin- 
guishing any name at all. Fortunately, hoAvever, one of the 
secretaries, himself if I mistake not a distinguished member of 
the Liberal committee, had a printed list of his oAvn, by the help 
of Avhich he Avas enabled to suggest to the chairman the names 
Avhich he ong/if to hear. 

In this way, amid noise, confusion and uproar, the committee 



12 

was made up, being composed with but one or two, if with any, 
exceptions, of the very names borne on the printed list above 
mentioned. For if by chance, the chairman happened to hear 
the name of any individual not borne on that list, — and I for one, 
took a station directly under his nose, and bawled out, at the 
top of my voice, whenever nominations were called for, the 
names of those persons whom I and my friends had agreed upon 
as proper to constitute the preliminary committee, — if by any 
chance I say, the chairman happened to hear the name of any 
person not on the printed list, and proposed it to the meeting, it 
was immediately voted doAvn, to however good a Whig it might 
belong, and the name on the printed list was substituted. 

In this manner the preliminary committee was completed. 
Some question was made whether there were not some persons 
upon it Avho Avere not Whigs. But this inquiry was denounced 
as higlily impertinent. The Liberals attempted to hiss me doAvn 
for having made it, and the chairman himself seemed to think, 
that any inquiry into the past opinions of persons, was a matter 
of very little moment. One person however, nominated and ap- 
pointed on this preliminary committee, who frankly confessed 
himself a Van Buren man, and who was afterwards nominated 
as a candidate for the House, on the regular' Van Buren ticket, 
was excused from serving. One or two others made an exposi- 
tion of their political faith, which the meeting adjudged to be 
satisfactory, and the preliminary committee retired. 

In a few minutes they returned again with a list of four per- 
sons from each ward. The custom was and is, as I have before 
stated, that from these four persons, the meeting select two, by 
markings to constitute the committee. I moved accordingly, that 
tlie meeting proceed to mark. Mr. Gibbens, who had much 
more influence with the meeting than I had, moved that the 
marking be dispensed with altogether, and that the first two 
named of the four from each Avard, reported by the preliminary 
committee should constitute the County Committee. Somebody 
in the back part of the hall Avho suspected a trick, moved that 
the first and last named of the four from each Avard reported by 
the preliminary committee should constitute the County Com- 
mittee. Upon a signal given this motion Avas voted down, and 
the very extraordinary motion of Mr. Gibbens was carried by 
acclamation. When the names of the Committee thus ap- 
pointed, came to be read oflT, it chanced, by some most extraor- 
dinary coincidence, that they corresponded exactly Avith those 
l)orne on a list several copies of Avhich had been slyly handed 
about among the Liberals before the meeting Avas organized ! 

It thus happened that so far as the County Committee was 
concerned, the stratagem of the Liberals Avas completely suc- 
cessful. That body was composed precisely as they desired, and 
had airreed it should be. 



13 

The meetings for choosing the Ward Committees which in 
conjunction with the County Committee, constitute the Nominat- 
ing Convention were held a few days after. In some of these 
meetings the Liberals followed up the same game which they 
had played at the Temple, and with the same success. In other 
wards, they were met and defeated by the neutral Whigs and 
the Temperance men. But in general the time was too short to 
admit in the wards, of any decisive measures of defence. 

When the Nominating Convention came together, it was 
found to contain a small majority of pure Liberals. Of the 
minority, about one half consisted of Whigs strongly inclined to 
be Liberals, and the remaining half of pure Whigs, including a 
very small number of friends of the Law of 1838. 

When the proceedings at the Temple became generally known, 
they excited throughout the city a pretty warm feeling of in- 
dignation and disgust on the part of all impartial and fair minded 
men. I waited for some days, in order to see if any other person 
would move in the matter. But nobody seemed disposed to un- 
dertake the labor and responsibility of getting up a regular 
opposition to the irregular Convention, of which the history is 
given above ; and there seemed to be great danger that the 
excitement of the public mind would die away, and that the 
Whig party would tamely submit to the yoke which the Liberals 
had prepared for it. Under these circumstances, I esteemed it 
my duty to make a further move. After consulting w4th some 
friends, upon whose judgment I relied, I undertook the task of 
getting up a public meeting. This was no light or easy aifair. 
After calling upon all the persons whom I could think of as 
likely to aid me, I could not find a single one who would give 
me an absolute pledge to speak at the meeting, and when I 
went there, I had no certain assurance that any one Avould speak 
except myself. The task of getting a chairman consumed many 
hours, nor should I ever have succeeded without the aid of 
Messrs. Henry Edwards and Edward Brooks who volunteered to 
assist me. I was indebted also to Mr. Edwards for mucli other 
useful assistance in the details of the meeting. 

I prepared and published the notices, drew up the resolutions, 
and procured gentlemen to stand as members of the Committee 
of Vigilance and Correspondence, for the appointment of which 
the resolutions provided. The meeting Avas held at Amoi-y Hall 
on the 10th of October, and was very respectably attended. 
Every thing passed off well. I offered the resolutions with some 
preliminary remarks, and Mr. Charles G. Loring supported them in 
a very able speech, in which he was followed with much zeal and 
force, by the venerable Alden Bradford and Mr. John Tappan. 
The resolutions were adopted unanimously. A Committee of 
Vigilance and Correspondence, consisting of one from each ward, 
Avas appointed by the meeting, to which the chairman and sec- 
retaries were added. This committee was afterwards well 
known as the Amory Hall Committee. A,full account of the pro- 
2 



14 

ceedings of this meeting with the resolutions and a report of the 
speeches, was afterwards published in a pamphlet. 

The Amory Hall Committee held their first meeting on the 
11th of October. George Bond was chosen clmirman, and I 
volunteered for the office o^ secretary, to which I was appointed. 
J. C. Converse was chosen auditor, and J. Thomas Stevenson, 
treasurer. A sub-committee on finance was also appointed. 

The first business after the choice of officers, was, to authorize 
a circular letter, to be sent into every town in the Commonwealth, 
stating what we had done, inquiring what the prospect was in 
each town, and advising some similar organization for securing 
the election of trustworthy representatives. Being authorized 
for that purpose, the secretary prepared and dispatched the above 
circular, to which he received encouraging replies from about 
one hundred towns. 

At the second meeting, held October 16th, it was voted to 
enlarge the committee by the addition of one from each ward. 
Under this new organization the committee finally consisted of 
thirty-two members, as follows : 

George Bond, Chairman. 
Ward 1. Richard Austin, Bradley N. Cummings. 

" 2. Benjamin Brown, Matthew W. Green. 

« 3. William C. Brown, A. B. Snow, 

" 4. Edward Noyes, Thomas Patten, jr. 

" 5. Henry Plympton, Daniel Perkins. 

" 6. Loring Norcross, Aaron Jaquith. 

« 7. Isaac Parker, W. W. Stone. 

" 8. J. C. Converse, Charles Brown. 

" 9. B. P. Richardson, Caleb Coburn. 

" 10. Thomas D. Quincy, Charles Blake. 

" 11. William Willet, James F. Curtis. 

" 12. Francis Jackson, J. W. Gates. 
South Boston. Alvin Simonds, Jeremy Drake. 
East Boston. Eleazer Johnson, Solon F. Brown. 

J. Thomas Stevenson, ) Secretaries of the Amory Hall 
T. R. Marvin, I Meeting. 

R. Hildreth, Secretary of the Committee. 
At this meeting a Committee of Publication, and a Committee 
of Distribution were appointed, and it was voted to publish and 
distribute ten thousand copies of the pamphlet above referred to, 
containing the proceedings of the meeting at Amory Hall. This 
pamphlet was prepared by the secretary and was published and 
distributed accordingly. At a subsequent meeting the Committee 
voted to publish and distribute another pamphlet, prepared by the 
secretary, and entitled, " The Boston Opposition to the new law 
for the suppression of rum shops, and grog shops, fully detected 
and plainly exposed ; being an appeal to the country people of 
Massachusetts to protect themselves.'" Of this pamphlet several 
thousand copies were printed and distributed. 



15 

' A third pamphlet was likewise prepared b}' the secretary, vm\ 
published and distributed at the expense of the Committee, con- 
taining- the opinions ofthe Supreme Court of Massachusetts, of 
the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, and of Chancellor Kent, on 
the constitutionality of laws for restraining- and prohibiting' the 
retail trade in ardent spirits. 

Mr. Samuel Hubbard, having been nominated for the Senate, 
by the Whig Nominating Convention, and it being lioped and 
expected that his acceptance of that nomination might preclude 
any necessity, on the part ofthe Amory Ilall Committee, of nom- 
inating a separate ticket for senators, at a meeting of tb.at com- 
mittee held on the 20th of October, a sub-committee of three was 
appointed to urge upon that gentleman the acceptance of the 
nomination which had been tendered to him by the Whig c(!n- 
vention. In this mission, the sub-committee were unsuccessful. 
Mr. Hubbard declined to accept the nomination, and the Amory 
Hall committee Avere afterwards driven to tlie necessity of nom- 
inating a separate senatorial ticket. 

The Whig Nominating Convention had placed an injunction of 
secrecy upon its members. The secretary of the Amor}?^ Hall 
Committee had succeeded, however, in obtaining a printed list of 
tlie persons nominated in that convention as proper for candidates 
for the House of Representatives. This list was laid before the 
Amory Hall committee at their meeting, on the 20th of October, 
whereupon it was voted, "to proceed to designate twenty -live 
persons (to be selected from the marking list of the Whig Con- 
vention), wliom this Committee specially desires should be placed 
on the ticket of representatives to the General Court, to be made 
up by that Convention, any twenty of whom being placed upon 
that ticket, this committee will be satisfied therewith." 

A list of twenty-five names was accordingly agreed to. A 
discussion then arose what should be done with it ? It was thought 
that if it were formally sent to the Whig Convention in the name 
of the Amory Hall Committee, it might perhaps be rejected witli 
insult, inasmuch as the Whig Convention claimed to be the true 
and only representative of the Whig party, and regarded, or 
pretended to regard, the Amory Hall committee as a mere fac- 
tious rebel assembly. To avoid exposing the Committee to 
insult, and to escape the misunderstandings that might thence 
arise, it was judged best to place copies ofthe above mentioned 
list of twenty five, in the hands of several members of the Com- 
mittee who were intimately connected with certain members of 
the Convention, to the end that the contents of the list migiit 
through their joint means, come informally but substantially, to 
the knowledge of the Convention. 

This was accordingly done, though not to the full extent that 
liad been intended. I for my part liave no doubt that the leaders 
in the Convention were fully informed of the contents of that 
list There afterwards grew, hoAvever, out of an allusion to this 



16 

matter in a speech subsequently made at Amory Hall by Mr. 
George Bond, w hen the Amor}'' Hall ticket Avas presented there 
for approval, — a newspaper controversy of a somewhat malignant 
character, at least upon one side, between that gentleman and a 
Committee of the Whig Convention. 

The Whig and Ward County Nominating Convention held 
their first meeting for the selection of candidates for the House 
of Representatives, on Tuesday evening, Oct 23. At the meet- 
ing of the Amory Hall Committee held the evening following 
(Oct 24), notwithstanding all the efforts of the Whig Convention, 
to keep their proceedings a secret, a correct copy of the marking 
list used by the Whig Convention, with the marks thereon was 
laid before the Amory Hall Committee, by the secretary. 

It appeared from this list, that the Liberals had carried every 
thing before them. They had preconcerted matters in such a 
way, as to have marked in forty-two candidates at the first trial, 
every one of whom was known to entertain liberal opinions. 
Among the whole forty-tAvo, there was not a single friend of the 
Law. of 1838, nor a single person suspected of friendship for that 
law. Tavo only of this forty-two declined to accept the nomina- 
tion, and there remained to be selected sixteen additional 
candidates. 

This move on the part of the Nominating Convention satisfied 
every member of the Amory Hall Committee that the hope they 
had thus far clung to, of so much moderation and decency on 
the part of the Nominating Convention, as would prevent a double 
nomination, was utterly groundless, and the folloAving resolution, 
which became the basis of all the future action of the Committee 
was unanimously adopted. 

" Voted unanimously, that the information communicated this 
evening to this Committee, touching the doings of the Ward and 
County Convention, is such, as to make it expedient for this 
Committee to take immediate measures towards the nomination 
of a ticket of their oAvn, for senators and representatives." 

It has been already mentioned that there Avere in the Whig 
Convention a small minority of persons, Avho were sincerely de- 
sirous to make that body act Avith impartiality and justice, so as to 
fulfil the proper end of its appointment. At the head of this 
small minority Avere Albert Fearing and Richard Haughton. I 
have already given an account of the transactions in Avhich Mr. 
Fearing and myself had been jointly concerned previous to the 
meeting at the Temple. Subsequently to that meeting, Mr. 
Fearing had alloAved himself to be chosen a member of the 
Ward Committee for Ward nine, and had taken his seat accord- 
ingly in the Nominating Convention. If I do not misrecollect, 
Mr. Fearing had resolved not to accept a seat in that body ; but 
the unusual turn which things had taken, induced him to change 
that resolution, in hopes that he might exercise a salutary influ- 
ence over the Convention ; and the same reasons, if I mistake 



17 

not, induced him to take the chair in that body when it was ten- 
dered to him. He had formerly been chairman of the Conven- 
tion during the years 1835 and 1836, and had fulfilled the duties 
of tliat station to general acceptance. 

Mr. Haughton had for several years been annually chosen 
secretary of tlie Whig Convention, and at the organization of 
that bod}^ he had been reelected without opposition. At that 
time, however, he still continued absent in Pennsylvania, nor did 
he return till after the selection of the forty representative can- 
didates as above narrated. Shortly after he took his seat in the 
Convention, and thenceforward acted as its secretary. 

Mr. Fearing, Mr. Ilaughton, and those members of the Con- 
vention who acted Avith them, were greatly alarmed at the course 
taken in the nomination of the above forty candidates, and tliey 
set themselves seriously and laboriously to work, in order to pro- 
cure as to the remaining sixteen candidates, such nominations 
as might be satisfactory to the Amory Hall Committee, and 
might prevent the bringing out of a separate ticket. 

They exerted their utmost for the accomplishment of this ob- 
ject. But the Liberals were too strong for them, and when the 
trial came on in the Convention, they succeeded in marking in 
only six or seven of their men, while the Liberals carried the 
remaining nine or ten. In this way the Regular Ticket Avas 
completed, having upon it the names of but four or five avowed 
friends of the Law of 1838, while all the remainder of the ticket 
had the reputation of being hostile to that law. 

As Mr. Fearing and his friends had exhausted so maich labor 
to produce this slight modification of the ticket, they were natu- 
rally inclined somewhat to overrate its importance, and they 
seemed to think that it was the duty of the Amory Hall Commit- 
tee to disband, and make no fuitlier opposition. 

It is very true, that owing to the existence of the Amory 
Hall Committee, and to the exertions of Mr. Fearing and his 
friends, the Regular ticket had become a very different ticket 
from what it otherwise would have been. But even such as it 
had become, the Amory Hall Committee Avas by no means satis- 
fied with it After a careful scrutiny and examination, they 
could find only twenty na,mes out of the fifty-six, on the regular 
representative ticket, that they could conscientiously recommend 
as fit candidates to those of their fellow citizens to Avhom they oAved 
their appointment, and even of tliis tAventy the greater portion 
v/ere avoAved enemies to the law. TAventy names, taken from tiie 
Regular ticket, were placed upon the Amory Hall ticket, to 
AA^hich thirty-six neAv names of the highest respectability Avere 
added. 

The candidates having agreed to accept the nomination, this 
ticket was presented to a public meeting, held at Amory Hall on 
Saturday evening, Nov. 3d, and was then and there approved 
and accepted. 

2* 



18 

As the sub -committee on publication found it impossible to 
bring" the whole case, between the Amory Hall Committee and 
the Whig- Nominating Convention, fully before the public, in 
any of the existing public prints, they were under the ne- 
cessity of establishing a temporary paper of their own. This 
paper was commenced on the 31st of October, and was published 
till the election. It was called the True Whig, and was ex- 
tended to eight numbers. It contained a great amount of origi- 
nal matter, relating partly to the defence of the law of 1838, 
and partly to the merits of the political controversy, pending 
between the Whig Convention and the Amory Hall Committee. 
Of this paper a very large edition was published. It contained 
some home truths which gave great offence in certain quarters ; 
but it served to make the merits of the controversy more gen- 
erally known, and gained the Amory Hall party many adherents. 
The Liberals of the Nominating Convention were not wanting 
on their part. They issued extra Couriers and extra Centinels 
and Gazettes, at the expense of the Convention, filled with the 
most spirited matter, which, however, it is to be suspected, did 
the Amory Hall party more benefit than damage. 

The election took place on Monday, Nov. 12th. The* result 
was somewhat as follows : 

Regular Whig Ticket, 4000 

Regular Van Buren Ticket, 2500 

Amory Hall Ticket, 1700 

Total, 8200 

None were elected except the twenty borne conjointly on the 
Regular and Amory Hall tickets. 

The Amory Hall Committee met the Wednesday after the 
election, and authorized a formal official offer to be made to the 
Whig Convention, to the effect that if that Convention would 
place upon such ticket as they might offer to the Whigs of Bos- 
ton at the approaching second trial, to fill the thirty-six vacancies, 
twelve names taken from the Amory Hall ticket, then the Amory 
Hall Committee would agree to abandon their own ticket and 
would support the regular nomination. This proposal for a com- 
promise was made officially through a sub-committee. It was 
rejected by the Whig Convention and that rejection was official- 
ly communicated to the Amory Hall Committee. At the second 
trial, the Whig Convention again brought forward their thirty- 
six rejected candidates, and the Amory Hall Committee proposed 
their thirty-six candidates who had not been elected. The re- 
sult of the election was pretty much as follows : 

Regular Whig Ticket, 3100 

Amory Hall Ticket, 2100 

Van Buren Ticket, 1800 

Total, .7000 



19 

Of course there was no choice, nor could there by law, 
be another trial. It thus happened that in the Legislature of 
1839, the city of Boston had but twenty representatives. 

The Amory Hall Committee met for tlie last time on the 1st 
of December, 1838, and having passed a vote of thanks to George 
Bond, "for the manly and judicious manner in which he had 
discharged all the responsibilities which had devolved upon him 
as chairman," and appointed a committee of six to settle up its 
outstanding accounts, it adjourned without day. 

The expenses of the Committee had amounted to upwards of 
a thousand dollars, which sum was collected by voluntary subscrip- 
tion. All the debts of the Committee were discharged prior to 
the ]st of January, 1839. 

Such is the history of the Amory Hall party of 1838. I now 
proceed to give a very brief account of the representative elec- 
tion of 1839, so far as the question of sustaining the Law of 1838 
Mas involved therein. 

During the months of February and March, 1839, there was 
organized in this city a body called the Boston Temperance 
Association, consisting of committees in each Avard, Avhich com- 
mittees united in a general meeting, constitute the Association. 

Of the origin and early history of this Association, I am not 
particularly informed- I had no hand whatever in getting it up, 
nor did I know that such an undertaking was in progress ; for 
during that winter and spring, I Avas incapacitated by personal 
indisposition and severe family affliction, from attending to any 
thing except my own affairs. The existence of such an Associa- 
tion, however, soon came to my knowledge. I joined it in April 
or May, took an active part in its business, and was soon after 
appointed a member of its Advisory Committee. 

The annual primary meeting for the choice of the Whig Coun- 
ty Committee has usually been held in the month of October. 
It rests in the discretion, however, of the chairman of the Com- 
mittee, who is appointed by the annual Legislative Whig Cau- 
cus, to call together that primary meeting at any time he may 
think proper. Mr. Jonathan Chapman had been appointed by 
tlie Legislative caucus Chairman of the County Committee for 
the County of Suffolk, and in the month of June last he published 
a notice summoning the Whigs of the County to assemble at the 
Old Common Council Room, for the choice of County Committee. 
It Avas understood that he anticipated the usual time, by the ad- 
vice of Mr. Fearing, Mr. Ilaughton and others, avIio thought, and 
probably with justice, that the earlier the Committee Avas chosen, 
the fess likely that choice Avas to be attended Avith divisions and 
disputes. 

Previous to the meeting, some interchange of opinion took 
place betAveen Mr. Fearing and others aa^Iio acted for Avhat by 
Avay of distinction I shall denominate the Reii;ular JVkigs, and 
the leaders of the late Amory Hall party. The negotiators on 



20 

both sides had implicit confidence in the honor and impartiality of 
Mr. Chapman, and it was nmtually agreed to return to the old 
way of electing the County Committee, such as had ever existed 
previous to the meeting in 1838 at the Temple. 

The meeting at the Old Common Council was fully attended. 
The old Amory Hall party were fully represented. The Regu- 
lar Whigs were present in force. It Avas only the ultra Liberals, 
who seemed to have absented themselves. Of those gentlemen 
who had carried matters with so high a hand at the Temple, 
scarce one was to be seen. 

The meeting proceeded with the utmost harmony. By gen- 
eral consent, Mr. Chapman was appointed chairman, thus return- 
ing to the old custom which had been violated in the person of 
Mr. Edwards. By a unanimous vote the chairman was called 
upon to nominate a preliminary committee of th'ee from each 
ward, to report to the meeting the names of four from each Avard, 
from among whom the County Committee was to be chosen by 
marking. The number three was unusual. It had alvt^ays before 
been tivo. This circumstance at first excited some suspicion. 
It turned out, however, to be wholly accidental. The preliminary 
committee was ordered to report at a future day ; and the meet- 
ing adjourned to assemble again, on a day appointed, at the 
Temple, to receive the report, and to mark in the County Com- 
mittee. 

The most excellent spirit prevailed at this meeting, and it 
seemed to be generally agreed that for quieting the difficulties 
that had prevailed in the Whig party, groAving out of the License 
Law of 1838, the members of the Whig Convention, as well as 
the senators and representatives to be nominated by that Con- 
vention should be equally divided betAveen the friends and op- 
ponents of that law. There was no precise agreement of this 
sort, but such Avas the general understanding. The adjourned 
meeting at the Temple Avas very numerously attended and by 
the same sort of persons who had been present at the Old Com- 
mon Council Room. The preliminary committee made their 
report, and the meeting proceeded to mark for members of the 
County Committee. Of the tAventy-four thus selected, a small 
majority Averc persons who had belonged to the Amory Hall 
jxirty. 

The meetings in the Avards, for the choice of Avard committees, 
soon followed. In one or tAvo of the wards, the ultra Liberals 
rallied, and carried the Avholc delegation. In one or tAvo of the 
Avards the Avhole delegation was carried by the Temperance 
party, but in general the delegations Avere pretty equally divided 
betAvcen the Amory Hall men on the one side, and the Regular 
Whigs and ultra Liberals on the other. 

When the Whig Nominating Convention, thus elected, Avas 
called together, it was found to consist of three sub-divisions, 
viz., Temperance men, Regular Whigs, and ultra Liberals. 



21 

The first party Avas the largest, and the last was the smallest. 
The Regular Whigs held the balance of power. 

The nomination of Senators was effected without difficulty. 
The Temperance men had three, among whom were the two sen- 
atorial candidates borne on the Amory Hall ticket, but not on 
the Regular Ticket of last year. The Liberals had three also, 
two of whom were from the Regular Ticket of last year. 

The first marking for Representatives passed off pretty smooth- 
ly, and some forty-four candidates were selected, a small majority 
of whom were opposed to the LaAv of 1838. When the Conven- 
tion met, to select the remaining candidates, a sharp struggle 
ensued. A majority of the Regular Whigs joined the ultra Lib- 
erals, and the ticket stood, when completed, twenty-two friends of 
the law to thirty-four opponents. In the mean time the Van 
Buren men had nominated a Regular Van Buren Ticket, com- 
posed almost entirely of Liberals. This state of things was 
forthwith reported to the Advisory and Executive Committee of the 
Boston Temperance Association, who held a meeting, called the 
Association together, and submitted a resolution to the effect, that 
as matters then stood, neither of the regular nominations was 
satisfactory to Temperance men, or entitled to tlieir support. 

Upon this resolution a very warm and spirited debate ensued. 
There was a large party in the Association, who wished to pro- 
ceed immediately to the nomination of a pure Temperance ticket. 
At length, however, after a long debate, the resolution was re- 
ferred back to the Executive and Advisory Committees for fur- 
ther consideration, with directions to report thereon at a future 
day. 

In the meantime the Regular Whigs of the Convention seemed 
to have taken the alarm ; for at a meeting of that body, called to 
fill up a number of vacancies on the ticket caused by the declin- 
ation of several of the candidates, so many additional temperance 
men were put upon it, as to make up the whole number of twenty- 
eight, or half the entire ticket. 

The Executive and Advisory Committees of the Temperance 
Association, being informed that the Whig Convention had acted 
up to the mutual understanding, and had divided the Whig 
ticket equally between the friends and the opponents of the law, 
resolved to report to the Association that it was not advisable for 
that body to take any steps in relation to the approaching elec- 
tion. This, hoAv^ever, was not done, till the Executive and Ad- 
visory Committees had received satisfactory assurances from 
certain responsible temperance members of the Whig party, that 
if a Liberal Whig ticket were brouglit out at the polls it would 
be there encountered by a Temperance Whig ticket. 

It fell to my lot to make the above report to the Temperance 
Association. I was a candidate on the Whig representative 
ticket, and 1 knew very well that it was my policy, if I wished to 
be elected, to keep perfectly quiet and to say nothing either way. 
It is not my habit, however, to shrink from the performance of a 



22 

duty because that duty happens to be dangerous. I expounded 
the views of the Executive and Advisory Committees to the As- 
sociation, and in consequence of it became instantly involved in 
a very warm, and on their part almost an acrimonious debate, 
with several of the more ultra members of the Association, who 
seemed inclined to look upon all compromises as little better 
than downright treachery to the cause. At one time it appeared 
probable that those who insisted that the Association should 
instantly bring out a pure Temperance ticket, would carry the 
day. But after a very hot debate, in which more than one attempt 
was made to silence me by clamors and hisses, more rational 
counsels prevailed, and the resolution which I had reported, was 
adopted by a large majority. It was this debate which lost me 
my election. I failed by only eight votes. Several members of 
the Association assured me that evening that they would never 
vote for me. I have the consolation, however, of reflecting, that 
my course on that occasion made sure the election of the other 
twenty-seven temperance men who were elected, and among 
whom I recognize not less than sixteen or twenty active members 
of the old Amory Hall party, including the two secretaries of the 
first Amory Hall meeting, Mr. T. R. 'Marvin, and Mr. T. S. Ste- 
venson, to the latter of whom the Amory Hall committee had 
been very particularly indebted, both for judicious counsel, and 
efficient action. 

I was one of that number of Temperance Whigs, who had 
given assurances to the Executive and Advisory Committee of 
the Boston Temperance Association, that if the Liberal Whigs 
brought out a separate ticket, that ticket should be met and coun- 
teracted at the polls by a Temperance Whig ticket. To make 
all sure, we had our ticket printed before hand, and Avhen the 
Whig Liberal ticket appeared in the Courier and Centinel, upon 
the morning of the election, I consented to and advocated the 
immediate distribution of our ticket at the polls. It was dis- 
tributed, however, only in those wards where the Liberal ticket 
had first made its appearance. 

With regard to the second trial for the choice of representa- 
tives, I was among the first to advocate the dropping of the old 
list and the nomination of a new one. The new list actually 
nominated, was far from meeting my approval, though all things 
considered, it was doubtless better than the old one. After 
consulting with several gentlemen at a meeting called for 
that purpose, it was resolved, and in that resolution I fully con- 
curred, not to do any thing towards defeating the election of that 
ticket. Many circumstances concurred to lead us to this resolu- 
tion. We considered that the Temperance men had already 
elected twenty-seven of their candidates, and there was at least 
one on the new list, who being added would make up their full 
number of twenty-eight, upon which they had originally insisted. 
It might bo said, and with much appearance of reason, that the 
irregular tickets brought out on both sides at tlie first election, 



23 

had dissolved the compact previously existing respecting the 
equal division of the ticket. Nevertheless it was judged expe- 
dient to adhere to tlie spirit of that agreement, more especially as 
the political circumstances of the Commonwealth imperiously de- 
manded that our delegation should be full. For these reasons, 
no Whig temperance ticket was brought out at the second trial, 
and the regular candidates were elected without any serious op- 
position. The same motives that influenced the Temperance 
Whigs not to oppose those candidates at the polls, are understood 
to have induced the Temperance members of the Whig Conven- 
tion not to oppose their nomination. 

From the above statement, it is fully apparent, that the Amory 
Hall party has succeeded in accomplishing all the objects at 
which it ever aimed. It has rescued the Whig Nominating 
Convention from the grasp of those who had seized it, with the 
view of making it subservient to private and selfish purposes, 
wholly apart from the true ends of the Whig party. It has re- 
stored all the old usages in the election and proceedings of that 
body, the violation of Avhich first called the Amory Hall Com- 
mittee into existence. It has preserved one half the Whig party 
from a proscription with which they were threatened, and has 
bestowed upon them their fair share of legislative representation. 
It has put things back, — as far as the change of times and cir- 
cumstances renders it possible to do so, — into the position in 
which they stood, prior to tlie attempt to make the Whig party 
of this city a mere instrument in the hands of a small and in- 
terested faction, — the faction I mean of the Ultra Liberals who, 
as the late election has proved, cannot command twelve hundred 
votes, Whig and Tory united, in the Avhole city. 

Whether those persons, who, at the expense of much time, 
severe labor, and an unlimited portion of obloquy poured out 
upon tlieir devoted heads, have rendered this service to the 
WJiig party, are properly to be regarded as its friends or as its 
enemies, let the candid and impartial judge ! To assist their 
judgment, I would ask them to compare the ticket nominated 
in 1838, by the Whig Convention, the greater part of Avhich was 
defeated through the exertions of the Amory Hall party, with the 
ticket now recently elected, which owes its present shape as well 
as its election, principally to the exertions of that same party. 
To aid in this comparison I here subjoin the two tickets. 

Ticket of 1838. Ticket of 1839. 

[Those in italics were not elected.] [All elected.] 

Joseph T. Adams. Amos Binney. 

Jvers J. Austin. George T. Bigelow. 

Ruel Baker. William C. Brown. 

Amos Binney. Noah Brooks. 

Martin Brimmer. Francis Brown. 

/. Vincent Browne. John Bolles. 

A. W. Blanchard. George T. Curtis. 



24 



Wm. Barnicoat. 
Samuel Chessman. 
James Clarke. 
Joshua Crane. 
Lucius Doolittle. 
Isaac P. Davis. 
Frederick Emerson. 
Joseph Eveleth. 
Roivland Ellis. 
Henry Farnham. 
Stephen Fairbanks. 
Benj. Fiske. 
John C. Gray.' 
Daniel L. Gibhens. 
John Green, Jr. 
Samuel Greele. 
Daniel Henchman. 
Eliphalet P. Hartshorn. 
Enoch Hobart. 
Prenliss Hobbs. 
Samuel D. Harris. 
James Harris. 
Samuel Hitchborne. 
Thomas Hunting. 
Robert Keith. 
S. D. Leavens. 
Joseph Lewis. 
George Lane. 
Thomas Motley. 
Nahum Mitchell. 
David Nickerson. 
Richard A. JVewell. 
Wm. F. Parrott. 
Solomon Piper. 
Royal L. Porter. 
Brewster Reynolds. 
Simon W. Robinson. 
Jeffrey Richardson* 
Henry G. Rice. 
Asa Swallow. 
Robert G. Shaw. 
I^emuel Shattuck. 
Philo S. SMlton. 
Charles A. Wells. 
James M. Whiton. 
Isaac Waters. 
Thomas Wetmore. 
John B. Wells. 



Daniel Denny. 
Isaac P. Davis. 
Thomas A. Davis. 
Franklin Dexter. 
Georg-e Darracott. 
Frederick Emerson. 
David Francis. 
Ozias Goodwin. 
Nathan Gurney. 
John C. Gray, 
Frederick Gould. 
John Gardner. 
John Green, Jr. 
James W. Gates. 
Samuel Greele. 
Thomas Hunting. 
James Harris. 
Samuel W. Hall. 
John P. Healey. 
Eliphalet P. Hartshorn. 
Robert Hooper, Jr. 
Cranston Howe. 
Robert Keith. 
Benson Leavitt 
E. W. Leach. 
Wm. Lawrence. 
Joseph Lewis. 
Nahum Mitchell. 
Theophilus R. Marvin. 
Thomas Patten. 
Lewis G. Pray. 
Theophilus Parsons. 
Francis J. Oliver. 
William W. Parrott. 
George W. Phillips. 
Samuel Quincy. 
John Rayner. 
Jeffrey Richardson. 
Joseph W. Revere. 
Daniel Safford. 
J. Thos. Stevenson. 
Woodbridge Strong. 
Josiah Vinton, Jr. 
John B. Wells. 
William Willett. 
Horatio M. Willis. 
Robert C. Winthrop. 
Thomas B. Wales. 
James M. Whiton. 



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